Morrisville's defense powers first-round rout

MORRISVILLE — There are times when getting a decent amount of rest before your first playoff game can be a great thing to let injured bodies heal from the grind of the regular season.

And then, there are times when a week off between games can just lead to teams getting tired of practicing against one another and almost rejoicing to see another jersey walk into the gymnasium.

One gets the sense that was the case for Kievanna Lacey and the Morrisville girls basketball team. After a week of intense practices following a Bicentennial Athletic League championship game loss to Christopher Dock, the Bulldogs were almost rejoicing to see Calvary Christian arrive on Saturday afternoon.

“We are the type of team that can scream and yell at one another in practice all the time,” Lacey said. “And yet, when its time to play, we play as a team.”

As a team, the Bulldogs looked like a squad ready to make a deep playoff run, forcing 38 turnovers on the afternoon during a 66-26 rout of the Cougars in the quarterfinals of the District One Class A girls basketball tournament.

Next up for Morrisville will be a semifinal contest against No. 4 Sacred Heart. That contest will take place at Wissahickon High on Wednesday evening (7:30), with the victor guaranteed a spot in the PIAA state tournament.

“I thought that we came out and played a really good game,” Morrisville coach Dave Howell said.

Last week, Howell had wanted his team to become more aggressive on both ends of the floor after the 41-32 loss to the Pioneers. He got exactly what he wanted on Saturday.

“We had talked about that all week,” Howell said. “After a while, I think that we got tired of talking about it and wanted to get back out there and playing.”

It was an extremely balanced game. Four different Bulldogs hit double figures in scoring, led by Lacey’s 20 points. Cassandra Gainey had 17, Michelle Evans had 12 and Casandra Martinez added 10.

Most of Morrisville’s offense came as a result of a fierce defensive effort. Almost right from the outset, the Bulldogs implemented a swarming press defense that kept the Cougars from ever getting set up into an effective offensive set. It also helped Morrisville get a lot of transition baskets.

“We’ve always worked well as a unit in getting the ball to one another,” said Lacey, who had 13 steals, nine rebounds and four assists on the afternoon. “It was just a good overall team effort.”

Calvary Christian (7-15) was led by Kendra Stom, who scored 13 points.

Kevin Cooney: 215-949-4215; email, KCooney@phillyBurbs.com;

Twitter, @KevinCooney

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